Visiting Seaside Oregon, Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock - 2022/07/21-28

It's been a fun time visiting family near Battle Ground Washington, but it's time to move along. This week we're in Seaside Oregon!

We are leaving the Portland Fairview RV park right at the 11am checkout time. We didn't really get to spend all that much time here, seeing as we spent most of our days at Jon and Jess's house. 

Our drive is just a short 2 hours over to the coast of Oregon. 

Welcome to the Seaside Oregon Thousand Trails. 

All the spots are open for anyone to choose. I chose my favorite spot to back into, and I'm not trying to jinx it, but maybe I'm getting the hang of this. Beauty moved right back into the spot. Hooray!

While most of the family went back to Colorado, Megan is spending a little bit more time out in Oregon. She left a little earlier in the morning to explore the beaches (her happy place) before we arrived. 

And a short time later would join us at the RV. We went for a walk to explore the RV park. 

Beautiful flowers!

Ooh, someone got a little sunburned on the sand today. I commented that the bean bags for the cornhole game matched Megan's skin and shirt. 

The next day we headed to an amazingly beautiful beach, like you see in a postcard. 

Welcome to Cannon Beach! 

Home to Haystack Rock!

Normally you have beaches that are flat, but this one has character! Standing 235 feet above sea level, this is a major nesting place for seabirds, including the puffin!

The water and shoreline is really amazing here. The water is so shallow. 

We walked out hundreds of feet, still barely up to our calves. 

The area surrounding Haystack Rock has a sensitive ecosystem around it. 

Depending on the time of day, these tidepools appear. The whole surrounding area is classified as a Marine Garden and protected by law. There are birds flying all around and nesting on the rock. Some people have telescopes out so you can get a closer view of them. And if the wind shifts just right, you can definitely smell them too!

The city of Seaside employs workers to educate visitors, pointing out interesting features and answering questions, as well as making sure people stay out of the more sensitive areas. 

We were admiring a hermit crab, and the worked asked if we wanted to hold it. He picked it up and we all got a chance to feel it crawling in our hands. 

Theresa has noticed a few more things in the tidepool. 

Lots of anemones! 

Getting a view of some of the surrounding "Needles" beside Haystack Rock. 

The rocks around here have lots of shelled critters. 

It's beautiful here. We lucked out having bright blue skies. 

A crab had washed up on short. Ian checking in on him. 

I got a text from Megan that I needed to come over to see them right away! They've found something!

At the waterline is a rock that is teeming with wildlife. 

Including a Sea Star! Sea Stars were plentiful here years ago, but in the early 2010s, a disease called SSWD (Sea Star Wasting Disease) killed off nearly 90% of the population here! Thankfully they are starting to make a comeback.  

More crazy anemones. The worker let us touch one, as long as we only touched the tentacles. They weren't slimy and felt a bit like they were grabbing on to you. 

So much wildlife on this one rock. 

Including mussels. 

Getting a picture with Aunt Megan and the Needles. 

And Haystack Rock again. 

Megan is a coffee lover and these cute seaside towns have lots of independent coffee shops. We saw one on the map a little less than a mile away. Who is up for a walk? Look at that beautiful reflection of the shallow water on the sand. 

The kids had a lot of fun running in it. 

Once we arrived at the Sea Level bakery and coffee shop, they ended up being closed! It's 2:45pm on a Friday. Bummer. Guess we're too late. 

Either way, it was an enjoyable walk back to where we parked. 

Along the beach again. 

No we're not going to Theresa's Market. 

We're trying another coffee shop called the Bald Eagle Coffee House. 

With coffee in hand, Megan is happy. 

It was a great stop to go see Haystack Rock and all the wildlife. 

I liked seeing all the sea birds plus all the tide pools. These beaches have so much going on! 

Later that night, back at the campground, the kids got to try some badminton. More practice is needed. 

And the next morning, Megan got up and went exploring, back to Haystack Rock. 

And back to the Sea Level Coffee Shop. 

There's so much to see and do here! We'll continue in the next post!